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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27765520">Riotous Coincidences</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal'>Zetal (Rodinia)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ace character, Ben is Dean's Stepson, I May Have Had a Loose Top On The Shaker When I Was Sprinkling In Some Salt, M/M, actor!Castiel, background Dean/Lisa - Freeform, lawyer!Sam, mechanic!Dean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:34:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,363</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27765520</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam is a lawyer who loves his dogs - most of the time.  When his newest dog knocks over the most beautiful man he's ever seen in his life, it's rather embarrassing - but then he keeps running into the guy over and over again, and the guy remembers him and asks about the dogs.</p><p>Castiel is an actor who had a hard enough time making friends.  He doesn't need his coworker friendblocking him all the time.  One of these days, he'll manage to give the nice man with the two adorable Good Boys his phone number.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Sam Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/7855303">Riotous Coincidences</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal">Zetal (Rodinia)</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a rewrite of having done this as a Short Fic.  I was rereading it and thought there was so much more I could do with it, and then my mutual enabler absolutely refused to talk me out of doing it, so everyone be sure to thank <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyShadowphyre/pseuds/LadyShadowphyre">LadyShadowphyre</a> for being very good at xiri job. :D</p><p>Original prompt:<br/>Prompt from mewlink: http://mewlink.tumblr.com/post/115791883100/more-au-ideas<br/>Found throught DailySPNPrompts: http://dailyspnprompts.tumblr.com/<br/>• “You’re sort of famous and we vaguely know each other through bumping into each other all the time but the media thinks we’re dating”</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Getting a new dog was always an exciting time and a period of adjustment.  In Riot’s case, a lot of the adjustment was good.  Sam was getting more exercise, as his high-energy dog required it.  Bones was getting more exercise, too, which was doing him a world of good.  He’d been starting to show his age a little, spending a lot of time just lying around, but with Riot around, he was more active.  Dean was spending even more time with Sam, hanging out with his brother while his son Ben tossed sticks or tennis balls for the dogs to chase.</p><p>There were still times where Riot’s energy was a little too much.  Now was one of them.  Riot had been wearing a collar that had belonged to Sam’s previous dog, but then he saw something he wanted to chase.  Now Sam was holding a leash still attached to a collar, but the collar was no longer attached to a dog.  A quick examination proved that it was beyond fixing and needed to be retired.</p><p>“Come on, Bones, up for a run?”  Bones trotted eagerly beside Sam as Sam chased Riot through the park.  He was just about to call out and hope Riot would look his way when he saw a huge problem.  The most beautiful man Sam had ever seen was watching a group of small children playing tag, and Riot was headed directly for him.  “Look out!”</p><p>The man looked over, and oh no, he was even hotter than the profile had indicated.  There wasn’t time for him to say anything, as Riot collided with the man, knocking him to the ground.  Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to be too injured.  He popped up and got his arms around Riot, holding him in position long enough for Sam to reach him.</p><p>Sam was glad he could blame the run for his difficulty breathing as he got there.  “I am so, so sorry.  Are you okay?”  He dropped to his knees, taking Bones’s collar off him to put on Riot.  Bones was the better-behaved dog of the two, and the most likely to respond to voice command.  They would still be leaving after Sam made sure Riot’s victim wasn’t hurt, or getting him help if he was, but for the walk out, he needed control over Riot more than control over Bones.</p><p>“I’m fine.  I’m better than fine.”  The man looked up from Riot, and if Sam had thought he was beautiful before, he was completely screwed now.  Those blue eyes just were not fair.  “I got to pet a dog!  I’d say that was worth a little bump, wouldn’t you?”  Beautiful and a dog lover.  Sam was never going to forgive Riot for this.  The other man got to his feet and held out a hand to Sam.  “I’m Cas.”</p><p>“Sam.”  He got to his feet and looked down at Riot, who seemed perfectly happy to sit and watch the kids play, at least for now.  If it were other circumstances, this was where Sam would have used the time to try to flirt with Cas.  Flirting with someone your dog had just knocked over, though, that was a bit too awkward for him.  “I swear, I know how to train dogs.  Riot’s new and we’re still working on things.”</p><p>“I see.”  Cas looked down at Riot.  “You should behave better.”</p><p>Sam bit his lip.  Beautiful, dog-lover, and a great sense of humor?  If only he could stay.  “Not sure how effective that will be, but thanks for the backup.”</p><p>“You’re welcome.  Where did you get him?”</p><p>“Oh, uh, that’s kind of a story… I hadn’t meant to get another dog just yet, actually.”  Sam reached down and scratched Riot behind the ears.  “My vet, Amelia Richardson, is an old friend of mine from college, and she called me up last week to tell me that she had a very good boy who needed a home.  He’d been hit by a car, and while his injuries weren’t all that bad, it was pretty obvious that he was a stray dog.  No collar, no chip, a bit too thin.  The guy who hit him couldn’t keep him, so Amelia called me.”</p><p>Cas bent down to scratch Riot’s shoulders.  “You are a very lucky good boy, I hope you know that.  A good vet and a good home all in one week?  You should be very grateful.”  Riot barked and licked Cas’s face, causing Cas to grin.  He then held out a hand to Bones to sniff.  “Your other dog seems to be well-behaved, so I choose to place my faith in your ability to train Riot as well.”</p><p>“Bones is a very good boy.”  Sam rubbed Bones’s head behind the ears.  “It was nice to meet you, but I should probably get them home.  Bones’s collar won’t hold long on Riot once Riot starts getting interested in something other than you, and he’s not nearly well-enough trained to be off-leash in a public area.”</p><p>“Alas.”  Cas straightened up, tilting his head and looking at Sam expectantly.  Sam had no idea what Cas was expecting, though.  A request for a phone number, maybe?  If Riot hadn’t knocked the man over, Sam would ask in a heartbeat, but as it was this encounter was probably best left for his memories and dreams of what-if, rather than facing the humiliation of being rejected.  The expectance turned to surprise as Sam didn’t do whatever it was Cas expected of him, but the smile never faltered.  “Goodbye, Riot, Bones, be good boys and take good care of your human.”  Riot barked, and Bones smiled, as Castiel turned his attention back to the kids.</p><p>Sam got Riot and Bones back to the house without further incident, and only then realized that something was bothering him about the encounter.  Cas had looked somewhat familiar, but he’d been so lost in embarrassment that he hadn’t realized it.  Now, with Cas not in front of him anymore, he couldn’t put a finger on who he thought he looked like.  It probably didn’t matter anyway.  It’s not like he’d ever see Cas again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, Winchester!”  Crowley handed Sam a credit card.  “We’re buying lunch for the entire firm, and as the youngest member of the team, you get the very special job of going to pick it up.  It’s all ordered and paid for, so all you have to do is give them the name on the order, show them the card, and drive like a sane person on the way back so it doesn’t get smushed up on the side of the containers.  Think you can handle that, or should we send someone more important?”</p><p>Sam bit his tongue.  Telling off Crowley was not going to go well for him.  “I can handle it.  Did they say what time the food would be ready?”</p><p>“12:15.”  Sam looked at his phone and glared.  It was already 12:05 and it would take ten minutes to get to the deli the senior partners always ordered from when they bought the company lunch.  Crowley smirked at him.  “You’d better drive fast; wouldn’t want to keep the people here waiting, would you?  You definitely wouldn’t want anyone to be late getting back from their lunch break.”</p><p>“No, that would be bad.”  Sam ran to his office to put down the files he had pulled on a case he had planned to work on through lunch; it would now be delayed until after.  He then ran for his car, nearly knocking over Kevin the paralegal in his hurry.  “Sorry, Kev, I’ll make sure to save you one of the good sandwiches!”</p><p>“Right, ‘good’ sandwiches,” Kevin agreed.  “Not from MacLeod’s Deli, then?”</p><p>“Smart ass.”  Sam got back on his way.  Thankfully, Dean had taught him to drive while in a hurry, and no cops bothered to stop him or cause him problems.  He pulled into the parking lot of the deli at 12:16.</p><p>The worker recognized Sam.  “We’ll have your firm’s sandwiches right out – they’re still packing them up, but it will only take a minute or two.  Sorry about the wait.”</p><p>“No problem.  I’ll just wait out of the way.”  Sam moved to the side, turning just in time to see Cas walking in.  There were two people with him, a short man who just looked like trouble and a dark-haired woman who looked somewhat familiar, but not in a way that Sam could place.  Crap.  He ducked his head, hoping that between the suit and the hair in his face, Cas wouldn’t connect him with the guy in jeans and flannel whose dog had bowled him over at the park.</p><p>No such luck.  As soon as they got in, Cas said something to the people he was with.  The woman rolled her eyes and headed off to find a table, while the man stuck his tongue out at Cas’s back and headed up to the counter to order.  Cas came straight to him.  “Hello, Sam.  It’s good to see you again.  How are Bones and Riot doing?”</p><p>Sam peeked up, and there was no trace of mockery on Cas’s face.  The question was genuine.  Not only had Cas remembered his name, he remembered the dogs’ names, too.  Maybe… the trip hadn’t been the disaster Sam’s brain insisted it was?  “Hi, Cas.  The dogs are doing great.  Riot, um, Riot’s still full of energy, but he’s at least learning obedience, and Bones is still quietly amused and tolerant of his antics.  So I’m counting it as great.”</p><p>“I believe I agree.  That’s good to hear.  Not in the least a surprise, but still, good.”</p><p>There was a beat, where Cas looked like he was about to say more, but then a voice called out to him.  “Hey!  Cas!”  Castiel turned to look at the man he’d come in with.  “Quit flirting and get your butt over here!  You know this is supposed to be a working lunch!”</p><p>Cas winced and turned back to Sam.  “I apologize.  Gabriel is an idiot.  Very good at his job.  Very, very good.  But an idiot when it comes to people skills.  Not that I have much room to talk, but I’m just awkward.  Not an idiot.”</p><p>“Heh.”  Sam could relate to that.  He wished he could stay and actually do some flirting with Cas, since his coworker seemed to think that Cas flirting with him might be on the table, but he saw a couple workers coming out with large boxes.  “It’s really just as well.  That looks like me coming out right now, which means that I need to get back to work, too.”</p><p>“Lucky, then.”  Cas gave an awkwardly cute little wave and turned to head over to his coworkers, and Sam took one of the boxes from the worker carrying it.  The stupid smile was going to be difficult to explain to Crowley when he got back, but it sure wasn’t going to be going anywhere anytime soon.  Cas didn’t think he was a complete idiot.</p><p> </p><p>Castiel settled into his chair, looking at the script in front of him.  He then looked back to where Sam was carrying a box out to his car.  At least he’d been right – the man carried himself so differently in the suit than he did in the jeans and flannel that he’d almost not gone over.   As annoying as Gabriel’s choice to intrude was, it was at least less embarrassing than mistaken identity.  It was still irritating.  “Was that necessary, Gabriel?”</p><p>“What?  Getting you over here so you could get to work?  Yes.  It was.”  Gabriel thumped a hand on the script.  “We’re a bit concerned about a plot twist we wrote for Jimmy, and wanted to get your thoughts on it.  See what you could do with it.”</p><p>“I meant doing it like that.  You know perfectly well I wasn’t ‘flirting’ with him.”  Castiel flipped through the script, finding the highlighted page and starting to read.  If the writers were concerned about the plot twist they were dropping in the first episode of the next season, it could be anything short of killing him off.  Still, it was quite the surprise to read.  The season cliffhanger had been that a side character went into labor while Sheriff Jimmy was escorting her to her parents in a nearby town after her husband’s death.  “You’re killing off Mary?  I thought she was staying on?”</p><p>“That was the plan, but then Kelly had her baby last week.  You didn’t hear?”  Hannah reached out and took Castiel’s hand.  Castiel shook his head.  He had heard that the baby was born, but nothing beyond that.  “There were complications.  Kelly’s going to be fine, eventually, but she doesn’t expect to be able to come film when we start shooting, and asked to be written out of the show.”</p><p>“The writers talked over some options with her, and we all agreed that the best thing to do was to let Mary die in childbirth.  That way Kelly’s under no pressure to come back before she’s ready, and when she is ready, we’d already established that Mary had a twin sister back East.  I know it’s a soap opera twist, bringing someone back as their twin, but it’s not like we don’t have a better reason than ‘separated at birth for Reasons tm’.”  Gabriel smirked and nodded at the script.  “Keep reading.  That’s not what we’re worried about.”</p><p>Castiel did.  He dropped the script in shock when he read on.  “Her parents were awful!  How can they look at their own grandchild and be so cruel?”  Mary’s parents had told Jimmy to hang the child, since that was the punishment for murder.  Jimmy refused, and chose to keep the baby himself.  Castiel’s first reaction was to immediately say he was on board for this, but then he had to stop and think.  Being a single father did not seem to be compatible with being a sheriff.  “How is this going to work?”</p><p>“After a couple episodes of struggling, Jimmy is going to get help from the Colt brothers.  David will be on board immediately, but Saul will take a little longer to warm up to the baby.”  Gabriel leaned forward.  “And now this is where we were worried about your reaction.  Jimmy raising baby Andrew, of course he’d do that, you’d fight us if he didn’t at least try to honor Mary’s wishes.  We were just thinking that this might be a good time to pull the trigger and confirm that yes, Jimmy is gay, and we’ll pick a Colt based on what you think and how the fans are reacting.  Except… we may not pick.  If it works out, we’d kind of like to do a polycule.  What do you think?”</p><p>That was a good question.  What did he think about it?  He loved the idea of the polycule, but he had concerns about Joey’s reaction.  The fans, in general, preferred Saul as a shipmate for Jimmy over David, but Castiel himself preferred David.   Joey tended to be cranky any time anyone mentioned the possibility of Saul and Jimmy being together.  “Let’s see what happens.  Have you talked to Joey and Jake about it?”</p><p>“Not yet.  We were going to talk to you first.”  Gabriel paused as their sandwiches were delivered.  “After all, if you said no to one of them, no need to talk to that actor, right?”</p><p>“True.  Okay.”  Castiel read the rest of the script while he let the idea percolate in the back of his brain.  One of the main things he was thinking was that Sam reminded him a bit of David.  He couldn’t put his finger on why.  After all, he’d interacted with Sam for less than five minutes.  They certainly looked nothing alike.  “I’m not at all opposed to the polycule if you can get Joey and Jake on board, but if we have to choose, I would prefer that Jimmy choose David.  This isn’t news.  If Jake’s not on board or the writers choose to go with Saul, I’ll act it, but I would prefer David.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Another day, another chance meeting, and tomatoes suffer for things that aren't anywhere near their fault.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Castiel hung up the phone, scowling at the tomatoes like they personally were responsible for everything wrong in his life.  That wasn’t fair, but the tomatoes were here to scowl at, while Joey Adams wasn’t.  As expected, Jake Forester had immediately said he was in with whatever direction the show took, and he was looking forward to seeing the reactions to baby Andy.  Joey, on the other hand, hadn’t.  He’d hung up on Gabriel when Gabe called to talk to him, and then gone off on Chuck when the showrunner called.  It wasn’t that Joey was homophobic, or had a problem playing a gay character, Castiel was sure of that much.  It certainly wasn’t that he had a problem with the idea of acting a romance with Castiel.  Fans had been delighted when they discovered a movie from a year before <i>Coyote Horizon</i> started where he and Joey had been cast as a couple.  The roles were small, but there had been on-screen kissing.</p><p>Gabriel had just called to let Castiel know about the results of those conversations.  Now, Castiel was glaring at the tomatoes.  He had just made his peace with the idea of not having tomatoes on his tacos or hamburgers for the next couple days when his phone rang again.  “Joey?”</p><p>“They said they talked to you first about this polycule thing they’re pushing.  You really cool with it?”</p><p>“Yes?  Gabriel’s already told me you’re not, but I don’t understand your reaction to it.”  Castiel noticed someone staring at him, and moved away, heading for the meat aisle.  Hopefully, Joey wouldn’t be so ridiculous as to cause problems with his ability to select and purchase ground beef.</p><p>“It’s not you, and it’s not about me having a problem with playing gay,” Joey said, and Castiel couldn’t help the impatient noise that escaped.  He knew that much.  “I just can’t see why Sheriff Jimmy would even want to get with Saul.  I don’t want to romanticize all the times that Saul’s dealt with his anger at something by taking it out on Jimmy.  If they really want to do the polycule, they’re gonna need to get Saul some anger management.”</p><p>“And having a baby around is a good way to do that.  Saul goes off on Andy for something Andy can’t help, Jimmy and David see that and tell Saul to find a more constructive way to deal with his rage or find a new place to live.”</p><p>There was a pause while Joey thought that over.  “And while he’s doing that soul-searching to deal with his anger, he realizes his latent bisexuality or at least that he wants Jimmy.  We’ve been working on developing Saul overcoming the hypermasculinity that was beaten into him as a kid, and here’s the next step.  Okay.  I’ll have to talk to Gabe and make sure the writers know not to screw it up, but if they’re willing to go with that plotline instead of some love trumps all crap, then I’m on board.”  Castiel closed his eyes, feeling his whole body relax.  This actually made sense, now.  “Think they’ll let Saul and David kiss?”</p><p>Castiel pulled his phone away from his ear.  He could not have heard that right.  It made no sense.  “Not unless we’re switching to HBO and no one told me, not unless there were some very bizarre extenuating circumstances.  Why?  I don’t think they meant the polycule to be full triangle.”</p><p>“No, but if we’re making Sammy and Dammy canon, I kinda wanna throw the Coltcest shippers something, you know?  They’ve been with us since the beginning, kept the show alive when you took over for Vic.  I’ll ask Gabriel, dude is creative enough to figure something out, I’m sure.”  Castiel could see that.  He wasn’t sure the network would go for it, but it probably couldn’t hurt to ask.  “Good talk, man.  Thanks.”</p><p>Castiel put the phone away and picked up the beef to put in his bag.  As he approached the checkout line, his jaw dropped.  If he hurried, he could be in line directly behind Sam.  He just barely beat a woman with two small children pushing a very full basket, so he was doubly glad for his hurry.  “Hello, Sam.”</p><p>“Cas!  Hey!”  Castiel tilted his head as Sam startled.  “It’s, uh.  It’s good to see you.”</p><p>“And you as well.  How are the dogs?”</p><p>“Still a handful, but Riot’s settled down a bit.  Still energetic, but I think he’s got it through his head that he’s home now, and he can relax.  I’m still using the heavy-duty collars for him, though.  No more knocking over strangers in the park.  I hope.”  Sam gave a rueful smile.  “Bones is still a very good dog, but last night he got into the trash after my brother declared my attempt at hamburgers trash and threw them out and ordered pizza.  I was late to work this morning cleaning up after him.”</p><p>Castiel’s smile was brilliant.  “I know it must have been aggravating for you, but is it okay that I find the story amusing?”</p><p>“Well, I do, so…”  Sam shrugged.  Castiel was just about to offer to give Sam his phone number so they could talk more when the next cashier came available and waved Sam over.  Sam waved awkwardly and headed off.  Dammit.  </p><p> </p><p>For someone he’d spent a whole five minutes talking to, Cas was certainly having quite the effect on Sam’s thoughts.  Dean had come over to help him put away the groceries – and mock him for his choices, like choosing not to buy any pie or even any pie-making ingredients – and he noticed how distracted Sam was when Sam tried to put the tomatoes he’d bought in the refrigerator.  “Whoa, whoa, dude.  I raised you better than that!  Give me those.”  He took the tomatoes and put them on the counter.  “Dude, they’re not even ripe, you are gonna ruin them.  What is wrong with you?”</p><p>“I, uh…”  Sam coughed.  “Sorry.  There was… there was this guy there…”  Sam trailed off as Dean broke into the biggest shit-eating grin imaginable.  “Oh no.  Don’t start.”</p><p>“Dude.  It’s about time you started noticing people again!  Tell me about this guy.  What’s he look like?”</p><p>“He looks exactly like the guy Riot knocked over in the park last week.”  At the sound of his name, Riot came trotting into the kitchen and barked.  “Yes, you.  You are such a troublemaker, Riot.”  Sam put down the bag he was emptying and reached for the dog, giving him pets.  “And yet somehow he doesn’t seem to think I’m a complete idiot, because we’ve run into each other twice since then and both times he’s asked about the dogs.”</p><p>Dean went to the cabinet, opened the door, and got down the dog treats to give one to Riot.  “Good boy!  Sammy needs all the help he can get when it comes to finding someone.  He is such an awkward dork.”</p><p>Sam would protest, except that Dean wasn’t wrong.  “I managed to find Brady all by myself…”</p><p>“And then he went nuts, last good thing he ever did was break up with you and shove you into Jess’s arms.  Man, I liked Jess.  She was great for you.  Only one of your exes who didn’t end up turning out to be batshit crazy.”  Dean turned back to Riot.  “My brother has terrible taste, boy, feel free to substitute your own.”</p><p>Riot barked again as Sam shot Dean a flat glare.  Sadly, he couldn’t argue the point about his exes.  With the exception of Jess, his past love life was full of bad choices or lost opportunities.  It was quite likely that things with Cas would end up the same way, a lost opportunity to make a connection, unless Sam could get his shit together and actually make some plans to meet up with Cas on purpose at some point.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Meanwhile, Castiel managed to get all the way out to his car before realizing he had forgotten to get hamburger buns and had to go back in.  Dork &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Two more chance encounters and actual PROGRESS is made as Sam is informed of who the heck it is he's been running into (literally, this time).</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A few days later, Kevin stuck his head in Sam’s office.  “Isn’t it Tuesday?”</p><p>“Yes?”  Sam looked up at Kevin in confusion as he tried to pull his head out of the case and figure out why it being Tuesday was important.  Aside from the running joke of Tuesdays traditionally being the day at the office where the real weird shit cropped up – like today, a man had contacted them looking for help divorcing his wife after she had done cruel and unusual things with novelty candles.  Sam had spent the whole phone call collecting details trying not to laugh.  Why that would have Kevin confused that he would still be here at…</p><p>Oh, shit.  A glance at the clock cleared everything up.  “Shit.  Thanks, Kev.  I owe you one!”  It was almost 6:30, and he was supposed to have changed, eaten, and destressed from work by the time he met Dean and his family at the bowling alley at 7:00.  There wasn’t much he could do about the destress, but the bowling alley did sell food even if it was nothing Sam would eat under normal circumstances, and he’d never gotten out of the habit of keeping an emergency wardrobe in the trunk of his car.  In ten minutes, he was dressed in his usual jeans and flannel, on his way to the bowling alley.</p><p>In his rush to get inside to get some fries he could eat before Dean arrived, he wasn’t watching where he was going.  He bumped into someone, and when he reached out to help steady them, he realized just how much worse his day could get.  “Oh god.  I am so sorry, Cas.”</p><p>“Sam!  Hello.”  Cas’s face lit up in a smile, and he reached into his pocket.  Whatever he was reaching for, he didn’t get to get out before his friend was back and grabbing his arm to drag him away.  “Good to see you again!” he called back, but Sam could not help feeling like he was just being polite to the idiot who acted too much like the out-of-control dog.  At least he hadn’t knocked Cas over.</p><p>He hadn’t quite finished the fries before he was being attacked by a hug.  “Hi Uncle Sam!  Dad thought you were gonna be late, and now he has to buy me ice cream after we finish bowling!”</p><p>“Oh he does, huh?”  Sam stuck out his tongue at Dean.  “Seems like today is your lucky day, then.”</p><p>.</p><p>Gabriel had been highly apologetic when he realized how much Castiel had hoped to run into Sam again, only to be literally dragged away.  He’d even insisted on Castiel going back to at least give him his phone number, only for Castiel to change his mind and leave when he saw Sam meeting up with others.  The boy who just threw himself on him like they were family.  For all he knew, that was Sam’s wife and/or husband and son.  He wouldn’t want his attempt to befriend Sam to be misconstrued by his family.  He would just have to hope that his luck held and they encountered each other again.</p><p>On Friday afternoon, Castiel was scheduled to speak at an elementary school.  His eyes caught on one of the oldest boys in the room, probably in his last year of elementary school, who looked slightly familiar.  When he realized where he thought he might know the boy from, he had an unexpected derailing in his train of thought as he tried to explain to the kids how important it was to find their dreams and do their own research about what it would take to achieve them.  It only took a second to recover his train of thought, and he had no trouble covering it up, but the damage was done.  Sam was in his head, and he was just a little distracted for the rest of the speech.</p><p>After the assembly let out, Castiel tried to figure out how to watch for Sam without looking creepy or getting caught in a conversation he couldn’t get out of.  Fortunately, the principal approached him outside.  “Thank you so much for coming out to talk to our kids.  I know we have several fans in our older grades, and hearing this from you, in person, will be more meaningful than hearing it from their screens or the people they see every day.”</p><p>“You’re quite welcome.  Thank you for having me out.  This is one of my favorite parts of the job, really, getting to see the kids.  Your students were an excellent group to speak to.”  He saw Sam out of the corner of his eye.  Perfect.  “Please excuse me.”  She let him go easily enough, and he made his way over to Sam, noticing as he approached that Sam and the boy were both watching him.  “Hello, Sam.  Is this your son?”</p><p>“Nephew, actually,” Sam said, ears going a little pink.  “My brother is his stepdad.”</p><p>Gabriel would rub it in very hard that there was no need to avoid going in and talking to Sam.  The woman the other night, presumably, was the boy’s mother and Sam’s brother’s wife.  Castiel made himself let it go.  There was no changing the past.  “I see.”<br/>
“Ben says you came and talked to the school.  Is that something you do often, talk to elementary schools?”</p><p>“Every chance I get,” Castiel confirmed.  “I have a standing invitation from every elementary school in the area, and I try to get as many each year as I can, but I can’t get to them all.  I usually get to most schools every three or four years, which seems to be about right for getting to as many of the students as possible without them having to sit through my speech too often.”</p><p>“Wow.”  Sam just stared for a bit.  “I talk to schools a lot myself, but usually high schools at career fair type things, not elementary school assemblies.  Might be nice to talk to elementary schools, less bias from TV shows and stuff.”  Castiel raised an eyebrow, and Sam smiled ruefully.  “I’m a lawyer.”</p><p>“Condolences, then.”  Sam grinned, and for a moment, Castiel forgot everything.  That smile was amazing.  He reached into his pocket, pulling out the card with his cell number scribbled on it.  “I can’t imagine going to a high school.  By then, the students are so jaded.  They wouldn’t want to listen to me talk about dreams.”  More likely, by high school, they would want to fish for spoilers, or talk about their pet headcanons, or ask for Castiel’s opinion on shipping or other fandom drama points.  Or, if they weren’t fans, they would be bored and too cool for it all.</p><p>“So you followed your dreams, huh?  Me too.  Nearly cost me my brother, but it was worth it.”  Castiel was still trying to figure out what to say to that when Sam added, “Dean and I made up like three months after I walked out.  He was just scared of losing me and acted like an idiot, and… it doesn’t matter, now.  That was years ago, when I first set out for college.”</p><p>Castiel nodded, accepting that.  Which brought him back to his other reaction to Sam’s question.  “You really don’t have any idea who I am, do you.”</p><p>“Um…”  Interesting.  Sam really didn’t know.  “You’re Cas?  The guy Riot knocked over?”</p><p>“Castiel Zorka.  Google me sometime.”  Castiel winked at Ben, who appeared to be dying from the laughter he was holding in.</p><p>“I’ll do that.”  Sam reached down and clapped Ben’s shoulder.  “But I should probably get Ben off to baseball practice before his coach calls Dean to ask where he is.  It was good to see you again.”</p><p>“You as well.”  Castiel watched Sam and Ben go, and then put his hands in his pockets to head off himself.  Only then did he realize he’d managed to forget to give Sam the card.</p><p> </p><p>After baseball practice, Sam took Ben home with the intention of dropping him off and then going home to finish his leftover lasagna.  To his surprise, Dean wasn’t there yet.  Lisa, that made sense, her last class of the day usually finished around the same time as baseball practice, but Dean should’ve been home from work an hour ago.  Ben shook his head at Sam’s curious look.  “He didn’t tell me anything.  If you can’t stay, I’ll be all right on my own until Mom or Dad gets home.  I promise I won’t leave the house or try to use the stove or anything stupid like that.”</p><p>“I can stay.  My plans for the evening were to watch some TV anyway, so I don’t mind hanging here.”  Sam followed Ben into the house, shaking his head as Ben ran upstairs to change out of his grass-stained jeans before his mom saw them.  He headed for the kitchen to look for any kind of note or phone message that might indicate where the hell Dean was.</p><p>Ben made it back downstairs before either parent showed up.  “So you were going to watch TV?  Finally watch Coyote Horizon?”  Sam stared blankly as Ben smirked.  Sure, Dean and Lisa had bonded over that show, and Ben was a fan too, but he didn’t understand the way Ben was grinning.  “Because of C…”</p><p>They were interrupted by Dean coming in.  “Heya, Sammy!  Glad you’re still here, because you’re coming to dinner with us.”</p><p>“I am?”</p><p>“We’re going out?” Ben said at almost the same time.  “I thought Mom made a big thing of tuna salad.”</p><p>“She did, but it’ll keep for tomorrow, and we’re celebrating tonight.  Come on, let’s go, Lisa’s going to meet us at the restaurant.”  Dean jingled the keys to the Impala, and Sam followed Dean out, sliding in the passenger seat just like always.  Even when Lisa was with them, the passenger seat was Sam’s.</p><p>They pulled up to Outback Steakhouse, which for Dean, was incredibly fancy.  Sam looked over.  “You gonna tell us what this is all about, or leave us hanging all night?”</p><p>“I got promoted.  Lisa already knows, that’s how I talked her out of tuna salad and into steaks.”  Dean beamed, and once again Sam thought of the lonely young man who’d tried to talk Sam out of Stanford by arguing that he was just going to come right back to the life John raised them in, because how could they be anything different?  Sam had always considered it the best thing in his life that he’d managed to convince Dean to give apple pie a try himself while Sam was at school, and then Dean re-met Lisa, and all of a sudden apple pie was the only life Dean could see.  “I’m going to be the manager of the entire garage.  This is one of the best days of my life.”</p><p>“That is amazing!”  Sam leaned over the seat to hug Dean.  “Let’s go celebrate.”</p><p>Once they were seated, Dean properly congratulated, and orders were in, Lisa reached out to muss her son’s hair.  “How was school today, sweetheart?”</p><p>“It started out kinda boring.  We had a math test, and don’t give me that look Mom she graded them over lunch and handed them back right before the assembly and I got an 88.”  Lisa had been looking a little worried, but at that, she relaxed and gave Ben a giant smile.  “But Dean, I thought you basically raised Uncle Sam.”</p><p>“I did,” Dean said, looking over at Sam curiously.  Sam shook his head.  He had no idea what Ben was talking about.  “More than our dad did, anyway, gotta share credit with Uncle Bobby and a few others.”</p><p>“You didn’t do it right.”  Once again, Lisa looked like she was about to jump in with some kind of criticism, but Ben overrode anything she was going to say with, “Castiel Zorka came to talk to the school, and afterwards he came over to talk to Sam and Sam had no idea who he was!”</p><p>“Sammy!”  Dean swatted Sam’s shoulder.  Sam reached up to rub it while Dean continued, “You know who Castiel Zorka is!”</p><p>“I do?  Other than the guy Riot knocked over at the park?”  Sam started wracking his brain – the name did sound familiar, but he couldn’t place it.  Then all three people at the table started humming.  Eventually, Sam recognized it as the theme song for <i>Coyote Horizon</i>, and that gave him the clue.  “Oh my god.  Sheriff Jimmy.”  No wonder the guy had looked vaguely familiar.  It wasn’t like Sam watched the show much, but Dean and Lisa both loved it and he was around enough that he could recognize at least most of the major characters.  The sheriffs, the Colt brothers the show was ostensibly about, a few others.  There really was no excuse for him not to have recognized Castiel Zorka.</p><p>“Sheriff Jimmy,” Dean agreed.  He turned back to Ben.  “Please tell me I’m doing a better job with you and you got his autograph?”</p><p>“Well, he didn’t sign it in front of me or anything, but he brought a stack of pre-signed pictures and we were allowed to get up to two.  They’re in my backpack and you can have yours when we get home.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sam watches season 1 of Coyote Horizon and then runs into Cas again, with his doggos.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As soon as Sam got home from dinner, he sat in front of the TV with NetFlix loaded up to Coyote Horizon.  There were currently eight seasons of the show on NetFlix, with season nine set to finish airing later that spring.  Sam had heard that the first few seasons were skippable, that the show wasn’t worth watching until the arrival of Sheriff Jimmy partway through, but he didn’t believe that.  It could be just him, but starting a show in the middle was always frustrating because of the assumptions of things you knew about the characters.  Even though it meant he probably wouldn’t have seen Castiel yet by the next time they ran into each other, he was going to start at the beginning.</p>
<p>He’d watched enough of the show to know the basic premise.  David and Saul Colt were the main characters, the sons of John and Maria Knight.  Maria died in what was officially listed as complications from childbirth but John always suspected was a deliberate poisoning, driving him to paranoia and him keeping his boys isolated from the world.  Eighteen years later, John caught David in the barn with his boyfriend Jesse and killed Jesse, causing a huge fight and David running away without leaving any kind of message.  Four years later, Sheriff Victor Henriksen arrived at the Knight family manor, looking for Saul Knight and telling him that his brother was in trouble and needed help.  Saul was only supposed to be gone long enough to find David and bail him out of his problem, and then return home to John, but then he learned the truth of why David had run away.  The first season ended with John Knight showing up to drag his sons home.</p>
<p>That was as far as Sam had gotten by Sunday afternoon, when he took his dogs to the park to run.  Things were normal at first, with the dogs happily exploring and occasionally trying to chase squirrels but staying close when they remembered the leashes.  Then, with no warning, Riot took off hard enough to jerk the leash out of Sam’s hands.  Sam chased him, and his heart sank when he realized where Riot was headed.  “Cas, look out!  Riot!  NO!”</p>
<p>Cas’s head turned at the sound of Sam’s call, and he managed to avoid Riot’s attempt to jump up on him.  Cas held out a hand for Riot to sniff, which he did joyfully, and then Cas dropped to his knees to properly pet the good boy in front of him.  “Hello, Riot.”  Riot wagged his whole body in joy.  “See?  No need to jump on people when you’re a beautiful doggy.  People will always pet you when you’re a good boy.”</p>
<p>Relief washed through Sam, and he crouched to pet Bones while they were stopped.  It seemed less awkward than trying to talk to Cas from that high above him.  “I take it you’re a dog lover?”</p>
<p>“Animal lover, really, I love almost anything with feathers, fur, or scales,” Cas said, head ducked with an embarrassed smile.  “Except horses.  I am scared to death of horses.  I wish there was a cool story like being thrown off one and trampled or something, but it’s just one of those weird things.  I can’t explain it.”</p>
<p>Sam blinked a couple times, trying to make sense of that.  He couldn’t.  “I’d have thought with your job you’d have gotten over that by now.  That must make it really difficult.”</p>
<p>“At first, my stunt double did nearly all of the riding.  I’ve gotten better over the years, but I very nearly didn’t get the job because of it.”  Castiel looked back up.  “I take it you googled me?”</p>
<p>Sam shook his head, taking his turn for the embarrassed smile.  “Didn’t get the chance.  My nephew ratted me out to Dean, and I got hit with the Older Brother Contempt Ray until I realized I did know who you are.”</p>
<p>“Older Brother Contempt Ray?” Castiel asked, head tilted as he squinted in confusion.</p>
<p>Sam huffed a soft laugh.  “You don’t have an older brother, do you.”  Castiel shook his head, confusion clearing up with a grin.  “My brother is a huge fan.  He told me he was going to marry his girlfriend when they agreed that the best way to introduce Dean to her son was to watch the season finale of <i>Coyote Horizon</i> together.”</p>
<p>“Depending on which season that was, it might be a great idea or a terrible one,” Castiel observed dryly.  “I know some of the season finales are… controversial, or even downright awful.”</p>
<p>“Well, Dean and Ben bonded over both booing at something… I don’t remember what Dean said they were booing, and I wasn’t there.”  Castiel raised an eyebrow.  “It was season six, I remember that much.”</p>
<p>Castiel winced.  “I am so sorry.  Season six was terrible.  I hated that entire plot arc.  Unfortunately, the writers heard that.  The arc was supposed to carry through season six to season seven, but they decided to wrap it up early… which meant giving it the stupidest possible ending.  Gabriel showed me the original notes.  I was supposed to ‘die’ early in season seven and come back toward the end, but the writers were afraid that I wouldn’t come back.”  He winked.  “In all fairness, I think they realized just how popular I was and were afraid of a fan revolt if they killed me off, so it’s not just how much I hated the arc.”</p>
<p>“Well, don’t spoil it for me,” Sam said, trying not to laugh.  “I’ve seen bits and pieces because of my brother’s obsession, but I only just started watching seriously.  I’m going to start season two tonight.”</p>
<p>“Don’t expect me to show up any time soon; they didn’t bring me in until season four.  I’ve heard fans advocating skipping the first three seasons as unimportant backstory, but I disagree with that strongly.”  Cas stopped with a wry smirk.  “Of course, I also disagree strongly with the fans who say the show should have ended in season three with Sheriff Vic’s departure to chase his obsession, and, if anything, seasons four onward should have been Coyote Horizon the Spinoff.  We’re still the same show, about the Colt brothers and the sheriff they work with.”</p>
<p>“Heh, season four, huh?  I knew it would be a while, but I didn’t know exactly how long.  Good to know.”  Sam rubbed Bones’s ears idly.  “Gotta say, I’m enjoying it a hell of a lot more than I thought I would.”</p>
<p>“Not a fan of Westerns, or scared of the fans?” Castiel asked.</p>
<p>That got a chuckle out of Sam.  “I tend to stay out of fandom spaces.  Those people enjoy it, but they get a little wild for me.  Not much of a fan of Westerns.  So many of them ignore the reality of the Old West, preferring the sanitized myth of the White Hetero Male West.  They ignore all the people of color except for depicting the Native Americans as either savages or mystic wise men, the women who weren’t either schoolmarms or saloon girls, and the widespread queerness of the cowboys.  Your show’s different.”</p>
<p>“Well, I’m not going to spoil anything for you, but I think you’re going to enjoy one of the major storylines of season two, then,” Castiel said with a huge smile.</p>
<p>“You mean Gwen Russell becoming Gary the Rustler?”  Castiel’s smile got even bigger.  “Yeah, it was pretty much impossible to be Dean’s brother and miss the media uproar over a trans cowboy.”</p>
<p>“It’s a shame they wrote him off… although I do have mixed feelings about it, as I’m sure you can understand.”  No kidding.  Of course Castiel would have conflicted feelings about it, since writing out Gary was the writers’ solution to how to write out Sheriff Vic when the actor wanted out to pursue a film career.  Sheriff Vic left town, haunted by Gary’s escape and determined to bring him to justice.  “At least they let him escape to Mexico instead of having to be killed, although I know I shouldn’t exactly cheer for the bad guys.”</p>
<p>“Maybe not, but by letting him escape, it means you could bring him back at some point.”  It would be difficult after all this time, but not impossible.</p>
<p>Castiel’s smile took on a slightly strained quality.  “True, but difficult.  Every so often I hear it pitched to do a movie with Sheriff Vic chasing Gary to Mexico and trying to bring him in, but they’ve never gotten a script past production, the creative team, and the actors.  I don’t think a movie will happen, and if you bring Gary back to the show, you would have to bring Vic back as well.  It would disrupt the new directions the show has gone.  Personally, I wouldn’t mind them bringing Vic back as long as they don’t write me off, but Chuck keeps saying this show ain’t big enough for the both of us.”</p>
<p>Sam buried his face in Bones’s fur while he laughed at that.  Chuck Shurley, the showrunner for <i>Coyote Horizon</i>, was probably right, as it would bring infighting in the fandom.  He could just hear Dean’s opinion on the matter – Dean was undeniably a Sheriff Jimmy fan, and felt that Sheriff Vic had abandoned not only his post as sheriff but his friends in the Colt brothers all for some dude he couldn’t get over.  “Probably for the best, yeah.”</p>
<p>Castiel’s phone rang, and he looked at it.  “I’m very sorry, but I have to take this.  It’s Gabriel.”  He reached into a pocket of his trench coat, giving a puzzled frown as he started checking other pockets.  “Odd… it was good to see you again, Sam, and I hope to again soon.”</p>
<p>“Same.  Riot!  Bones!  Time to go play!”  Sam got to his feet and took off at a jog, getting his dogs to chase him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Gwen became Gary when the actor approached the showrunners with his intent to quit - he was planning to transition publicly and no longer felt comfortable playing a female character.  The showrunners put their heads together and came up with a counterproposal: instead of bringing in the planned new character for trans representation, they would toss out the planned Gwen/Vic romance storyline for season 2 in favor of a transition storyline for him.  The actor agreed on condition that he get input into the writing, which the showrunners had no problem with.  After a bit more discussion, it was agreed that the Gwen/Vic romance would not be thrown away, but shelved until season 3.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Castiel complains to Gabriel.  Gabriel hatches a PLAN.  Castiel is annoyed.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Castiel watched Sam go, cursing himself.  How had he forgotten the card?  It occurred to him as soon as he’d hit the button to answer Gabriel’s call that he could have just asked for Sam’s phone to put his phone number in, but that was the story of his life.  Obvious solutions, just a little too late to actually solve the problems.  It made him a little snippier than he should have been with Gabriel.  “What is so important?”</p>
<p>“Whoa, Cas, what the hell is that about?”</p>
<p>“You interrupted me talking to Sam and I’m an idiot, but you didn’t deserve that.  I apologize.”  Castiel took a long deep breath to steady himself.  “What do you want?”</p>
<p>“Writer’s group chat has been busy trying to figure out Joey’s weird demand, and I was wondering if you had any genius ideas for how we can make it happen.  We obviously don’t want to go with bad stereotypes of Native American mysticism or witchcraft, but we need to have something to explain why both David and Saul are acting completely out of character for them.”</p>
<p>Ah.  Joey had made that a demand, then.  “I’ll think it over and get back to you.  You might ask Charlie, she writes fanfic of the show and might have some ideas.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we’ve got her thinking about it, too, but figured the more people we had the better chance we had of getting a usable idea.”  Fair enough, then.  “Sorry about interrupting a conversation with Sam again.  You ever get him your phone number so you can actually make plans to do things together?”</p>
<p>“That would be where the ‘I’m an idiot’ comes in,” Castiel groaned.  “I have a card with my cell phone number on the back all ready to give him… and I left it at home.  It’s getting quite frustrating.”</p>
<p>“Okay.  That card goes in your wallet as soon as you get home, so that you are carrying it everywhere.”  Castiel groaned at how obvious a suggestion that was.  “You’re an actor, Cas, you’re supposed to be out of touch with common sense!  That’s what you have us for.”</p>
<p>“You’re awful.”  Castiel reflected on the encounter with Sam.  “We do have some progress.  He knows who I am now.  It turns out his brother is a fan of the show.”</p>
<p>“Brother’s a fan, huh?”  Castiel’s palm hit his face.  He could hear the plotting tone in Gabriel’s voice.  “You can use this, dude.  I’ve got an idea.”</p>
<p>“Use this for what, exactly?  We’ve already talked about how he’s started watching the show and what he thinks of it, so I don’t know what you’re wanting me to do.”  He did, but he was hoping he was wrong about what Gabriel was planning.  He was getting enough teasing about his crush, which was nothing of the sort.  If Gabriel meant that Castiel could somehow use Dean’s being a fan to get in good with the family, that was going well beyond even a crush.</p>
<p>“Just come by.  Tomorrow afternoon.  Bring a Sharpie.”  Gabriel hung up with Castiel feeling even more unsettled about what Gabriel was up to.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next afternoon, Gabriel handed Castiel a badge.  It was quite familiar to him – one of the badges he wore on set as Sheriff Jimmy.  He even recognized this particular one, as one of the points was broken off from where it had been knocked off during a fight and then a horse stepped on it.  “I thought the prop department was going to retire this one and include it in an auction at some point.”</p>
<p>“They were.  I convinced them to let you give it to a fan instead.  You can give it directly to the brother, or you can give it to Sam and tell him he’s got his brother’s Christmas present for this year sorted out.”  Gabriel paused, a smirk playing across his face.  “The Sharpie I had you bring is so you could autograph it for him.”</p>
<p>Castiel was halfway through the autograph before he could question it.  “What is the purpose of this, Gabriel?  It’s not Dean I want to be friends with.”</p>
<p>“Did a little research, and turns out best way to guarantee you’ll be friends with Sam?”  Gabriel winked.  “Get in good with Dean.  And then, of course, when you get out of your shell…”</p>
<p>“I’m not in a shell,” Castiel snapped, dropping the badge into the pocket of his coat along with the Sharpie.  “I am aroace.  There is a difference.”</p>
<p>“And the ace thing never seems to change, but don’t give me that aro thing.  I’m not press, I don’t need you to dumb down demiromantic for me.”  Gabriel folded his arms across his chest.  “But fine.  When you get the emotional connection to Sam to develop romantic feelings, having the brother on your side will help make that transition.  And don’t give me that glare, you’re kind of on the way there already despite never really had a proper planned interaction with him, aren’t you?”</p>
<p>Castiel’s glare softened, much to his great annoyance.  Gabriel really did get it, right down to recognizing the potential in this particular situation, but that didn’t mean Castiel was willing to forgive his insensitivity.  “I wouldn’t go that far.  I recognize that if I get the chance to befriend Sam and he isn’t scared off by the patience required or the lack of privacy that can come with being involved with a well-known actor, he is exactly the type of guy I go for, from what I’ve seen.  Intelligent, open-minded, somewhat awkward in an endearing way, opinionated without being pushy about it…”</p>
<p>“And it doesn’t help that he looks like a tree you could climb to pet that soft, soft hair?”</p>
<p>“<i>Gabriel.</i>”  The glare came right back as Gabriel’s shit-eating grin just grew wider.  “He is nice-looking, but I’ve explained many times that I do not care at all about that in a romantic partner.  I’m far more interested in the fact that he looks like he gives amazing hugs.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”  Gabriel waved a hand at the pocket with the badge.  “The point is, you’ve got an in with the brother, who is Sam’s only living family that he’s on speaking terms with, so whatever your relationship ends up looking like, this will help.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sam has a Very Weird Couple Days, where he randomly* encounters several people who are not Castiel but are associated with him.</p>
<p>*Some encounters are less random than others.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sam’s day started out weird enough with his clients all being touchier than usual.  Some touchiness, he expected – people didn’t hire a family lawyer because they were part of a happy, well-adjusted family going through smooth sailing.  His clients were, as a rule, going through some shit, and a bit of touchiness was only to be expected.  However, there was a difference between “a bit of touchiness” and “all I said was that it sounds like your son is struggling with this and you should probably consider getting him some support outside of you and your ex, and you decided to throw things at me and nearly killed my intern with broken glass from the picture of my family you destroyed.”  It was a bit of an exaggeration, Kevin was going to be fine, but he was taking the rest of the day off to get stitches and the client had been informed that not only were they fired, they should be on the lookout for an official lawsuit for Kevin’s medical costs and the lost work hours for the firm.</p>
<p>At lunch, he’d been approached by a short, red-haired woman who looked familiar.  “Hi!  You’re Sam Winchester, right?”</p>
<p>“Yes… do I know you…?”  As soon as he’d finished saying that, he had a horrible suspicion, and a moment’s search through his memory proved him correct.  Another moment’s search made him realize that he didn’t know her real name.  He only knew her as Celeste Middleton, a half-Iroquois woman whose father had dragged her out West after her mother died.  He’d only seen the first episode with her, but he knew she stuck around as a recurring character.  “No, I don’t.  I barely know Celeste, and I don’t know you at all.”</p>
<p>“No, you don’t, but you’re going to.”  She held out a hand.  “Charlie Bradbury.  I’m going to be starting my off-season job soon, and since you work there, you’ll be seeing me around.”</p>
<p>“Nice to meet you.”  Sam returned the handshake.  “You off-season at a law firm?”</p>
<p>“Yep!”  She winked.  “You’re going to judge me, probably, but years ago I had an affair with Crowley’s mom, and when that ended, she badgered Crowley into giving me a secretary job to keep me busy.  Crowley’s never gotten around to permanently firing me, so here I am.”</p>
<p>“No judgment from me, I know Rowena.”  He could certainly understand the fascination.  If, before he’d started working for Crowley, she’d shown an interest in him… he’d probably have jumped all over it.  Crowley was perfectly capable of standing up to Rowena if he needed to, which meant that it wasn’t that he hadn’t gotten around to firing Charlie, he just didn’t want to.  “It’s nice to meet you.”</p>
<p>“Likewise!”  Charlie’s phone buzzed, and she made a face as she checked it.  “Looks like my first day back is tomorrow, some intern got hurt and will be out the rest of the week so Crowley wants me to start early.  Which means I’d better go, I’ve got errands I need to get done while I still can.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Even though Sam never actually left at 5:00, that was the official quitting time.  At 5:01, his personal phone rang.  “Dude I’m freaking out.  You will never guess who came into the garage today and started demanding to speak to the manager.”</p>
<p>“Castiel Zorka,” Sam deadpanned.  It didn’t sound like Castiel’s style, but the only other thing Sam could come up with was that it was John.  Between the two, it was far easier to believe that the TV star had some Hollywood star traits that hadn’t come up in the few encounters he and Sam had.</p>
<p>“Close.  Mayor Goldstein.”  Sam let his head fall backwards.  He should have known.  After all, he knew Gabriel was in town, and based on interviews he did seem like the kind of arrogant asshole who would demand the manager immediately.  “He demanded that I personally take care of his baby – which I would have anyway, it was a gorgeous 1960 Bentley convertible – and while I worked, we talked about our kid brothers.  Then I joked that he looked like Mayor Goldstein and he said he got that a lot.  It was bugging me, especially with your thing with Castiel Zorka, so I googled him, and learned two very odd things.  One, he owns a 1960 Bentley, and two, he was an only child.  He made up a whole bunch of stories about a little brother for no reason I can think of.”</p>
<p>“Wow.”  Sam couldn’t think of anything either – unless Castiel had been talking to Gabriel.  Gabriel might have somehow tracked down which of the other Winchesters in town was the right one, and gone to get information about Sam that he couldn’t find online.  Even that explanation dead-ended with why Gabriel would care that much.   “So get this – Charlie Bradbury has an off-season job working for Crowley.”</p>
<p>“Dude.  Trick her into signing my poster of Celeste taking out Dick Roman!”  It was fanart Dean had commissioned for Lisa for her birthday, based on a fanfic Lisa absolutely loved, exploring an alternative to the group effort to take down the slimy multimillionaire developer from Back East.  Celeste was a small part of the effort in the show, but the fic made her the lead hero.</p>
<p>Sam closed his eyes, trying to remember if there was anything creepy about it.  There wasn’t, so Charlie would probably be okay with it.  “I’ll ask her, but I’m not going to trick her into it.  Don’t be a Dick.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After work, Sam briefly considered going home and getting in bed without any supper at all.  He decided against that when out of nowhere he heard Dean threatening to break in and force-feed him with an airplane if he heard his little brother was being that stupid.  He could call Dean – Lisa usually had plenty of leftovers she’d be glad for him to come eat, especially since he genuinely enjoyed her preference for healthy cooking – but after being yelled at by Phantom Dean, he was going into stubborn little brother mode.  He would go get some takeout somewhere.</p>
<p>There was going to be a fairly long wait at the Thai place he settled on, so Sam settled in at a table with a beer to wait.  When he saw someone plop down across from him, he very nearly said hello to Castiel without bothering to look up.  He was glad he did look up first.  “Um… do I know you?”</p>
<p>“Nope.  Well, you might know me if I did this.”  The man slouching in the chair across from him pulled himself up straight, leaning forward slightly with his hands folded on the table, and his features arranging themselves into a solemn look that somehow still invited Sam to start talking about whatever he wanted to.  When he spoke, the British accent was gone, replaced by a soft drawl.  “Tell me, my son.  What’s on your mind?”</p>
<p>Sam’s jaw dropped, and as quickly as it had come, the serious priest was gone, replaced once again by the cocky rogue.  “Okay, you’ve gotta be someone from <i>Coyote Horizon</i>, but I don’t think I’ve seen your character yet.  I’m still working through season 2.”</p>
<p>“Ah, yeah, I don’t show up until season 6.  Don’t want to spoil you for anything, so I’ll skip the part where I tell you who I play.”  He held out a hand.  “Balthazar Roche, at your service.”</p>
<p>“Pastor Sebastian.”  Balthazar quirked an eyebrow in question.  “My brother’s a big fan, and Father Sebastian coming in after Pastor Jim’s death was one of the few things he liked about season six.”</p>
<p>“Oh, good, you do know me then.”  Balthazar grinned.  “So what’s a hotshot lawyer doing waiting for cheap Thai food?  No partner to cook for you?”</p>
<p>“I’m no hotshot, and my brother will be insulted no matter how I answer that question.”  Balthazar snorted, and Sam felt compelled to explain, “He and his wife will feed me any time I ask, and they’re both awesome at it, so yes I have someone who would cook for me if I wanted, but no, I don’t have a partner in the sense you meant it.”</p>
<p>“Right… David.”  Balthazar winked and got to his feet as a waiter headed their way with a bag of food.  “Good meeting you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next morning continued the strangeness, as he stopped off to get donuts for his office.  After all, if he was temporarily getting a new intern, it was only polite to welcome them with treats, and if he was wrong and Kevin was going to be there, Kevin deserved a treat after having to deal with the dangerous client the day before.  As he waited in line, there was a tap on his shoulder.  “Sam Winchester?”</p>
<p>Sam turned.  He didn’t recognize the woman at all, although there was something vaguely familiar about her.  Given the way yesterday had gone, he jumped to conclusions.  “When does your character show up?”</p>
<p>“Huh?”  She stared at him.  “…Thursday nights at the D&amp;D session?”</p>
<p>“Sorry, I just had a really weird day yesterday.”  Sam ran a hand through his hair.  “I’m afraid I have no idea who you are, even though you seem to know me.”</p>
<p>“My name’s Hannah Johnson, and I guess if you want to get technical, I have a tiny role as Caroline in season nine.  The actress who was supposed to play her had an emergency and I fit into the costume and was on set anyway because I wrote the episode.  I have a feeling the fans are going to be awful.”  Hannah smiled at Sam.  “It’s nice to meet you.  I’ve heard a great deal about you from Castiel.”</p>
<p>“Um… you have?”  This was news to Sam.  Castiel was talking to his coworkers about him?  Also, he could put his finger on why she looked familiar.  She’d been with Castiel and Gabriel at the deli the second time he ran into Castiel.  “How much of it is that I’m an idiot?”</p>
<p>“None.  Castiel only ever says nice things about you and your dogs.”  Hannah gave him a gentle nudge forward.  “You’re next.”</p>
<p>Sam managed to stammer his way through the order, trying to process this.  Castiel… didn’t think he was an idiot?  Why not?  Sam sure felt like one when he and Castiel ran into each other.  At least he was capable of ordering donuts even through his fluster.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At least when he saw Charlie again, he was prepared.  She squealed as she took a donut.  “You are the best boss ever!  How are you working for Crowley?  You deserve so much better.”</p>
<p>“It’s a good job, and Crowley’s highly respected and sure, he’s the devil, but it’s sure better than trying to go it alone and hope for the best when it comes to recruiting clients.”</p>
<p>“That’s sweet, Moose, I love you too.”  Crowley snagged a donut with a smirk.  “I came down to introduce you to your temporary intern – I gave Kevin a couple days off, hope you can deal with the disappointment and annoyance that I’m making decisions about your employee.  Seems like the two of you know each other, though?”</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t say that, exactly, but we’ve met.”  Sam hadn’t been irritated about Crowley swooping in until now, since if Kevin had asked him he’d have approved it too, but Crowley’s smugness had that effect.  “Anything else, or can we get to work now?”</p>
<p>“New client, asked for you specifically, thought you should take a look at the case.  File’s on your desk.”  Crowley headed out, pausing at the door.  “If you need help, ask Charlie, she should have some good information.”</p>
<p>Sam rolled his eyes.  “Been here long enough you’re used to him being an idiot?”  Charlie nodded, so Sam got the file.  As soon as he opened it, he slammed it closed.  “Wow.  Idiot.”</p>
<p>“Uh-oh, what?”  Kate, Sam’s paralegal, poked her head out of her office.  “What’s the new case?”</p>
<p>Sam took the file into his office and closed the door, not answering the question as he tried to sort out the ethical dilemma here.  He opened the file again to read over the case, which did sound like something he was used to handling – siblings disputing which of them should be named their parents’ guardian after a diagnosis of dementia made it necessary, with one sibling arguing that the other had never shown any interest in their parents until then, and the other sibling arguing that the first was barely competent to care for themself and had no business being in charge of a whole other human.  The first sibling was the one asking for Sam to represent her.  She was also Meg Masters, who played Rachel Zael on <i>Coyote Horizon</i>.</p>
<p>Normally, he wouldn’t hesitate to take the case, but the problem was that Charlie was working with him.  Could he responsibly expose something Meg might prefer to keep hidden from her coworkers like that?  There was an easy solution, if he was brave enough to take it, so he reached for his phone.  “Hello, Meg Masters?  This is Sam Winchester with Morgenstern, Prince, and Associates.”</p>
<p>“Sam!  Hey!  You gonna help me out with my asshole brother?”</p>
<p>“That will depend on you.  There’s a…”</p>
<p>Meg cut him off with a laugh.  “I know about Charlie’s day job.  We’re friends.  She’s heard all about what a jerk my brother is.  The ethics are appreciated, though.  Makes me even more confident you’re gonna do this job right.”</p>
<p>“Oh.  In that case, yes, I am going to take the job.  I’ll call back later, once I’ve had a chance to properly look through the supporting documents you gave us and talk things over with my team, so we can talk properly.”  Meg agreed to that, so Sam hung up and headed back out to explain things to his team.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Charlie was thrilled to sign Dean's poster - after all, she wrote the fic. :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Castiel FINALLY REMEMBERS TO GIVE SAM THE CARD!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning for referenced fictional child abuse.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>By Friday night, Castiel was seething.  Charlie, he fully understood.  She had worked for Crowley for several years now during the offseason.  With Sam also working there, it was unavoidable that the two of them would run into each other.  Meg, too, had a good reason for contacting Sam.  Gabriel was rather stalkerish, tracking down Dean, but in retrospect, Castiel really should have expected it.  When he found out that Castiel was not on speaking terms with his family, he’d adopted Castiel as his little brother.</p>
<p>It was the fact that it seemed every single coworker he had who lived or worked in this general area during hiatus had managed to run into Sam, while Castiel had subjected himself to the mortifying ordeal of going out in public far more than usual and hadn’t seen Sam since Sunday.  After running into Sam at the bookstore on Wednesday evening, Rachel had rolled her eyes at him.  “You’re being an idiot.  Call Charlie, ask her to give Sam your number and tell him to call you.  Meg would do it, too.”</p>
<p>“I am not going to disrupt his professional responsibilities,” Castiel snapped.  “I’m sure I’ll run into him again soon.”</p>
<p>“And then you’ll forget to give him the card, again, and by the time you do remember to give him the card you’ll have to leave for the convention tour or, God help us all, because shooting’s started on season 10.”  Castiel sighed, but he had to admit she had a point.  He still wasn’t ready to give up and ask for help, but he was getting frustrated and could see the breaking point coming soon.</p>
<p>He’d just heard from Mandy Pike that he’d run into Sam at the grocery store, so it was with great annoyance that he agreed to Gabriel’s badgering to go to the bar for burgers and beers while watching a baseball game.  If Sam had gone to the grocery store, what were the chances he was going to a bar for dinner?  And if he was going to the bar for other reasons, well, Castiel didn’t want to interfere or give the wrong impression.  On the other hand… it couldn’t hurt, could it?  Maybe if he showed up, the others wouldn’t spend the whole time gossiping about him and Sam, and if they did, he’d at least know what they were saying and be able to fight back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The group had just settled in at a table when Castiel heard a familiar voice.  “I can’t believe Nick turned out to be the killer!  He was always such a good guy, especially looking after that kid Ruby Jewel… I’m scared of what’s going to happen to her, now that Nick’s gone.  Her mom’s awful!”</p>
<p>Castiel found Sam sitting at a table with his brother, who he recognized from the bowling alley.  Dean groaned at Sam’s comment.  “It’s not pretty, but they had to kill him.  How many people did he kill?  Stirred up trouble with the Apache village.”  Castiel had to agree.  “Not pretty” was a kind way of describing what happened to Ruby Jewel.  Her mother was a saloon girl in another town, and Ruby Jewel had come to Coyote Horizon when Nick basically kidnapped her and her mother didn’t even try to find her.  Nick had never claimed to be her father – no one knew who her father was, not even her mother – but he looked after her and made sure she got to be a normal kid.  With him gone, she was forced to go back with her mother, until Saul Colt found out that her mother was abusing her.  He rescued her and brought her to Ellen Harvelle.  She’d still be living in a saloon, but Ellen at least looked out for her workers, especially the ones who were too young for the stereotypical “saloon girl” work.  Ellen’s actress, Jody Mills, had even tried to fight for Ellen to take her in right away after Nick’s death, but was talked out of it.  The current end of Ruby Jewel’s story was the town giving her a sendoff as she went back East to be trained as a nurse.</p>
<p>Castiel reached into his pocket, making sure he had the badge.  He did.  The card, as well.  Excellent.  He made his way over to the table, ignoring the laughter and calls of encouragement from his coworkers.  “Hello, Sam.  I take it this is the brother I’ve been hearing about?”</p>
<p>“Yeah.”  Sam’s whole face lit up with a smile.  “Dean, this is Castiel Zorka, not that I have to tell you that.  Castiel, my brother Dean.”</p>
<p>“Hello, Dean.  I’d meant to give this to Sam to give you, but since you’re here.”  He pulled out the badge and handed it to Dean.  “I hear you’re a fan.”</p>
<p>“Oh, wow, this is awesome!”  Dean stared at the badge, flipping it over to see the signature on the back and practically drooling.  “Thank you.  My wife and I love your show so much.”</p>
<p>“Me too.  That’s why I’m still doing it.”  Castiel winked.  “By the way, I apologize for Gabriel’s idiocy.  I made the mistake of telling him that my family turned their backs on me, and he decided he was adopting me as his little brother.  I didn’t get a choice in the matter, according to him.  I hope you can forgive his snooping.”</p>
<p>“Wait, those stories he was telling me about his nonexistent little brother… those were about you?”  Dean’s laughter rang through the bar, drawing several stares, much to Castiel’s dismay.  He even noticed some flashes as pictures were taken.  “I was wondering about that dude, but looking out for a little brother, I can understand.  Don’t worry, Sammy, I said nice things about you.”</p>
<p>“Shut up, Dean.”  Sam glared at him, and then looked to Castiel sheepishly.  “Older brothers are such a pain, aren’t they?”</p>
<p>“They are.”  Castiel reached into his pocket again, pulling out the card, and handed it to Sam.  Before he could explain, he heard Meg calling his name.  He turned and saw that a brawl had broken out at his table, and he sighed.  “I’m so sorry, it looks like I have to go figure out what that idiocy is about.”</p>
<p>“Someone asked that girl for her autograph and phone number,” the waitress said, pointing at Rachel.  “When she refused, the asshat grabbed at her, and the big guy threw a punch.”  The big guy was Yuri Ellis, who played recurring bad guy Benedict Walker, a Texas ranger gone bounty hunter.  “Your group might not get thrown out, since he was protecting a woman getting harassed, but it probably won’t be comfortable here.”</p>
<p>“No, probably not.”  Castiel shook his head in disappointment.  “I had better go.  I’m sorry.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ruby Jewel is not a Supernatural reference.  I stole her name from Allison Moorer's song "Ruby Jewel Was Here".</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They talk?  About things??  This is allowed???</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sam had started ignoring his phone over the weekend, as it seemed every call was either spam or Dean calling to tell Sam not to be an idiot and to call the number on the card Castiel had given him at the bar.  “Dude, there is no reason for him to give you a random number if he wasn’t giving you his and wanting you to call him to make plans!  Don’t make me steal the card and call him for you.”</p>
<p>In all fairness, Dean was probably right.  That didn’t make it any easier for Sam to pick up the phone and go through with it.  By Sunday afternoon, he’d started dialing twice only to lose his nerve.  What if they were wrong?  What if Castiel had given Sam the number for something related to Meg’s case, and Sam called from his personal phone?  What if…</p>
<p>He rolled his eyes as his phone rang again, right as Gary found the captive Sheriff Vic in the outlaw gang’s camp.  The only reason he hit pause was that it wasn’t “Smoke on the Water”, which meant not Dean, which meant it might be something he actually did have to deal with.  “There something you’ve been meaning to tell me, Sammy?”</p>
<p>“Dean?”  He checked the number and rolled his eyes, as he hadn’t counted on Dean borrowing Lisa’s phone.  On the off chance that there was something big that had come up, Sam took a moment to think about it, but nothing came to mind that Dean didn’t know about.  “No.  Why?”</p>
<p>“Lisa just got home from the grocery store, and you know she’s not one to buy the celebrity gossip magazines, so I had to see what the hell when I saw one.”  Sam snorted.  That sounded exactly like Dean, prying into things that were really none of his business.  Lisa was perfectly capable of smacking him down, so Sam didn’t interrupt.  “Turns out, she bought it because the lead article was about Castiel Zorka’s new mystery man.  Mind explaining that one?”</p>
<p>He should have known it was about Castiel.  Unfortunately, nothing he knew anything about.  “I don’t mind a bit, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.  Him seeing someone isn’t something that’s come up in the whole half hour I’ve spent with him.”  For that matter, he wasn’t any more interested in celebrity gossip than Lisa or Dean most of the time, but he seemed to remember that Castiel had described himself as aroace.  While that didn’t mean he couldn’t have someone in his life, it made it unlikely that Castiel would have just thrown that out there in their brief conversations.</p>
<p>Dean scoffed.  “Look, man.  They blurred your face, but that’s Riot he’s petting.  Ben’s school you’re talking in front of.  They edited me out to make it look like the two of you meeting up at the bar.”</p>
<p>Wow.  That did explain why Dean would think he’d know something, at least.  On the other hand, Dean really ought to know better.  “You know I’ve been running into him every few days.  That’s it.  A few minutes at a time, a handful of times over the last couple weeks.  I am not dating Castiel Zorka.  You know I’d have told you if I were dating someone, but especially one of the stars of Coyote Horizon.  I don’t even…”  Sam trailed off.  He did know how to contact Castiel, most likely, and now he had a good way to start the conversation.  Damn.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Dean’s voice cut into his spiraling thoughts.  “You might wanna check out the pictures they’ve got.  It really looks like he likes you, Sammy.  Everything I’ve ever heard about him makes him out to be a really good guy, so if you’re interested… might wanna see if you can make it come true?”</p>
<p>“I’ll think about it,” Sam promised.  “What magazine?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It didn’t take Sam long to find a copy of the magazine to buy, and as he read the article, he could easily see where Dean was getting ideas.  The article did a good job of making their five-minute encounters seem like dates, especially the meeting in the bar.  There were several quotes from coworkers about how distracted Castiel had been the last couple weeks, and how it had something to do with some man he refused to talk to them about.  Reading the article, he was half convinced that he and Castiel were dating, even though he knew better and recognized the rhetoric tricks they were using.</p>
<p>He stared at the card Castiel had given him, carefully typing the number into his phone and letting his thumb hover over the call button.  This was going to be awkward if it was something relevant to Meg’s case instead of Castiel’s phone number, but it was important enough to be worth the risk.  He hit call and waited.</p>
<p>Castiel answered.  “Sam!  I’m so glad you called, I was starting to worry.”</p>
<p>“Hey, Castiel.”  Sam felt the tension drain out of him, but some of it came back as he looked over at the magazine.  “I know it’s short notice, but can you meet me somewhere?  I need to talk to you about something.”</p>
<p>“Of course.  How about the park?  You could bring your dogs?”</p>
<p>“Sounds great.  They could use some exercise anyway.”  Bones lifted his head to stare at Sam curiously, making him smile.  He just might have to add exercise to the list of words he needed to be very careful with around his dogs.  “How long will it take you to get there?”</p>
<p>“I can be there in ten minutes.  I’ll see you there?”</p>
<p>“Sounds good.”  Sam hung up and found the dogs’ leashes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bones and Riot were both excited by the car ride, giving Sam the chance to distract himself from the coming conversation.  He couldn’t handle both dogs and carry the magazine, so if Castiel hadn’t seen it, he wouldn’t be able to show it to the actor.  Just as he was getting out of the car, his phone rang.  “Crowley?  Why are you calling me on this phone?”</p>
<p>“Because this is about you as a client, instead of part of the firm,” Crowley drawled.  “I’ve just been made aware of a certain article heavily featuring you.  True or not, I don’t care, but Charlie believes there’s enough information available for more obsessive fans to identify you.  We’re working on getting a notice prepared to the magazine about it.  I wanted to let you know we’ve got your back.”</p>
<p>“Thanks.  I hadn’t even started thinking about that.  Don’t give me that noise, I only just saw it today, and my first priority was talking to Castiel about it.  Which I’m about to do, so I’m hanging up.  I want approval before you send out any official notices, but you know what you’re doing, have fun doing it.”  Sam hung up, shaking his head with a grin.  Right.  He could do this.</p>
<p>Castiel lit up at the sound of Riot barking, and Sam only just was able to keep hold of the leash.  “Riot!  Sit!”</p>
<p>Riot sat at Castiel’s feet, leaning toward him.  Castiel squatted beside him, holding a hand out to Bones as well.  Both dogs eagerly licked his face.  “Such good boys.  You are good dogs.  Hello, Sam.  What did you want to talk to me about?”</p>
<p>Despite the planning time, Sam hadn’t come up with a better way to start, so he just went for it.  “Have you seen the magazine article about us?”</p>
<p>“I saw that there was one and flipped through it, but I haven’t had the opportunity to read it properly yet.”  Castiel kept his gaze on the dogs as his smile slipped away.  “Sam, I’m very sorry.  It never occurred to me that anyone might notice our frequent accidental encounters.  It’s not like any of them were planned, until this one.  Even giving Dean the badge… the original plan was to give it to you next time I ran into you.  I could keep it in a pocket easily enough.”</p>
<p>“So you’re not into me, just using me for dog petting?” Sam teased, joining Castiel at dog level to pet his dogs.</p>
<p>“Yes.  Exactly.  I love your dogs and if I’m nice to you you’ll let me pet them.”  Castiel gave a fleeting smile, but sobered quickly.  “Actually, I do like you, and I was thinking about pursuing something that could end with me asking you out.  But then this happened, and I can understand if that would scare you off.”</p>
<p>“Wait, what?”  Sam blinked.  “I mean, yeah, the magazine made it sound like you were interested in me, but they also brought up the numerous times you’ve mentioned in interviews that you never wanted a girlfriend.”</p>
<p>Castiel rolled his eyes, and Sam found himself admiring just how thoroughly dismissive it was.  Even Crowley could learn a thing or two from it.  “Funny how they never asked the obvious follow-up question about if I ever wanted a boyfriend.  The answer to that one’s a lot more complicated, and quite possibly enough to scare you off even if the press attention doesn’t.”</p>
<p>“Come on.”  Sam stood back up, handing Bones’ leash to Castiel.  He led the way over to a park bench, where he and Castiel could sit comfortably with the dogs.  “What’s so complicated that it might scare me off?”</p>
<p>It took a while for Castiel to answer, and when he did, it was careful, every word deliberate.  “I’m asexual, and sex-repulsed.  In the press, I usually describe myself as aromantic, but the better term is demiromantic.  It takes me a long time to get comfortable enough with someone for the romance to develop.  Too long for most people to wait.  It’s not anything about my partner, it’s about me.  I don’t know why I’m like that and sometimes I wish I weren’t, but it’s who I am and I don’t think I can change it.”</p>
<p>“If it’s who you are, then you probably shouldn’t try.”  Sam started petting Riot, who had just laid his head in Sam’s lap, while he thought about what Castiel had said.  He could understand why Castiel was hesitant and precise in his language.  He deserved a well-considered answer, even if the answer was that he needed more time to properly consider or more information.  Some of it didn’t require Sam to think.  “The sex-repulsed isn’t a problem at all, as long as you don’t mind me disappearing to the shower or something to take care of things when I feel the need.  The romance will be harder, but I’d be willing to try, and if it doesn’t work out I can’t see why it should end our friendship.”</p>
<p>Castiel relaxed, smiling as Bones gave a soft bark.  “Even with the press?”</p>
<p>“Even with the press.  I have no idea what I’m doing there.  It’s kind of weird, really.”  Sam shook his head, memories of college and law school flooding back.  “I’ve always been that guy who on the last day of class, people look at me and ask if I’ve always been in that class.  It’ll be weird, but I’m willing to give it a try.  I’m already in one magazine, and Crowley has already promised that he and the firm have my back.  Let’s give it a try, what do you say?  If I can’t handle the press or the lack of romance, at least we’ll know.”</p>
<p>“Just like that?  Really?  You barely know me.”</p>
<p>“I know what I need to.”  Sam skritched Riot’s ears.  “Riot likes you, Bones likes you, and Dean likes you.  With those three endorsements, it’s enough for me to take the chance.”</p>
<p>“I see.”  Castiel reached out, taking Sam’s hand.  It didn’t last long, more of a handshake than a handhold, but the intent was clear.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have a general idea for what happens next.  Time, spoons, inspiration, and winning the bunny fights in my brain willing, there will be a sequel.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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